robotwarsfandomcom-20200215-history
Cutting discs
Cutting Discs were a type of small rotating weapon usually prevalent in the original series of Robot Wars. They were specialised to cut, slice and tear into other robots, targeting their armour, wheels/tracks, aerials, batteries and other sensitive components, and were capable of causing severe or terminal damage. Series 4 Grand Finalist Pussycat was the most notable robot to be armed with a cutting disc, while the first robots to feature this weapon were Plunderbird 1, Uglybot and Scrapper, all of which competed in Series 1. Definition *A cutting disc (also referred to as a cutting blade) is a generally small, thin disc weapon which has pointed edges all the way around it, as opposed to circular saws which have serrated edges. Unlike most flywheels, which have teeth welded onto them, cutting discs usually have their sharp edges integrated into the disc, preventing them from shearing off upon impact. However, this was not the only way in which a cutting disc could be designed. Some, like the four and eight-toothed Pussycat blades, were custom made from multiple pieces of metal forged together, while others, like Manta's three-toothed blade, bore closer resemblances to shrunken bar spinners than discs. Most cutting discs were small in size, although some competitors used larger-diameter discs throughout both of the show's runs. These discs, such as those equipped on the original version of Ming and the Series 8 version of The General, were closer to horizontal or vertical flywheels in size, but featured more teeth or pointed edges along their circumference than a typical flywheel. *The primary purpose of cutting discs is to cut, shred and slice through other robots, unlike circular saws which are only used to slice, and flywheels/heavy rotating blades which aim to gouge, tear and concuss. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *As with other spinning weapons, cutting discs proved very effective in causing damage to not only most kinds of armour - especially in earlier series - but also wheels, wheelguards or other exposed components. Pussycat's Series 4 run best demonstrated this - not only was it able to cause extensive damage to the armour of Robochicken, Thermidor 2, Dominator 2 and Chaos 2 at various points during this series, but also sever Reptirron's fuel lines and damage the wheels/wheelguards of Razer and Hypno-Disc respectively. *They could be easily integrated into an invertible design, as Pussycat, 3 Stegs to Heaven and the Series 3-5 and 7 versions of King Buxton demonstrated. *As with circular saws, cutting discs could easily be mounted on a moveable arm, enabling them to be swung down from overhead to improve the weapon's effectiveness or allow for a potential synergy with other weapons. The arm of American competitor Tentoumushi, for example, featured a cutting disc directly beneath its famous 'smothering shell', allowing it to simultaneously clamp and damage opponents caught underneath the shell. *Compared to heavier spinning weapons, cutting discs are generally less affected by recoil, making them potentially more reliable at operating for full matches. *The lightweight nature of a cutting disc meant that any spare weight left over for the wielding robot could be used to incorporate additional weapons (e.g. a second cutting disc), tougher armour or more powerful drive systems. The cutting discs formerly used by King Buxton, for example, were added in such a way that they increased the robot's damage potential without compromising on the robot's armour, motors or main lifting weapon. Disadvantages *Especially in later series, cutting discs very often struggled to damage tough armour, which put robots with them at a significant disadvantage on Judges' decisions. Pussycat's loss against M2 in Series 7 demonstrates this, as its blade could only cause superficial scratches to M2's armour at best. Only four robots have used a cutting disc in the rebooted series, and no robots used this weapon type in Series 9 or 10. *As with circular saws, cutting discs typically required sustained contact with an opponent to cause substantial amounts of damage, as opposed to the more instantaneous damage achievable using vertical flywheels, bar spinners or drums. Pussycat's exceptional damage capability was partially attributed to its capacity to constantly slam into opponents with its cutting blade. **An additional disadvantage over circular saws - and indeed, most flywheels - is that if a cutting disc is designed with fewer teeth or sharp edges, the disc can stop spinning entirely upon making contact with opponents. Pussycat's cutting blade, for example, was often prone to stopping once it made contact with opponents' armour, requiring the robot itself to reverse in order to get the blade spinning again for another attack. *If they were not attached properly, cutting discs were very prone to breaking or separating from the robot. Pussycat notably had its blade dislodged during the first Extreme 1 Annihilator after Alan Gribble forgot to secure the bolt holding it in place, while one of Shredder's discs was ripped off entirely in a head-on collision with S3's vertical flywheel in Series 6. *Cutting discs were also prone to getting snagged, either through becoming entangled in exposed cables or by catching opponents' armour and being unable to break free. These weaknesses were best demonstrated in 3 Stegs to Heaven's Series 5 fight with Eleven and Wild Thing's Series 6 battles with Vader. *Depending on their size, cutting discs had a very narrow attack range, which many robots could avoid entirely. This proved crucial in Pussycat's losses against robots like Firestorm 3, Tornado and M2 in its later career, with all three opponents successfully avoiding the disc. **Some robots, such as the original Unibite, circumvented this issue by having larger cutting discs which boasted a similar size to horizontal flywheels. Others, such as Shredder, utilised two horizontal or near-horizontal cutting discs mounted side-by side, which doubled the weapon's range without increasing the size of the individual discs. List of Robots with Cutting Discs Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that are not heavyweight are listed with a green background. Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Cutting Discs